Leaving Her Alone
by MDDC26
Summary: There's a reason Abby works best alone. That reason come back to haunt her.
1. Chapter 1

**There's a reason Abby works best alone. That reason comes back to haunt her.**

Gibbs drew his gun cautiously. He sidled into the lab, checking each area before moving onto the next. He finally found her. He returned the gun to the holster at his side. Abby sat in the corner of her lab shaking. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her knees and her head was bowed. She heard footsteps and shied away,

"Abbs," Gibbs called softly, "Abby?" She didn't look up but at the sound of his voice, her whole body seemed to become less tense. He moved towards her, his hand resting on his gun.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he knelt next to her, "speak to me Abby, I can't help you otherwise."

She lifted her head to look at him. That was all it took to make him see red. If you ever asked Abby later, she would say the air around them seemed to chill.

Her eyes were swollen and bruised, with a trickle of blood from a cut on the corner of her lip. She had several scratches running across her neck. He held out his arms, and she fell into them sobbing. He let her quiet down for several minutes before leaning back and grasping her chin firmly, but softly enough not to hurt her and forced her to look him in the eye.

"What happened?" he asked, "and don't tell me it's nothing."

"... I'm sorry Gibbs, he shouldn't have caught me off guard like that..." Abby began, "I should have known better..." her voice faded away.

"Should have fought better..."

"Who did this to you Abby?" Gibbs asked again, when she didn't answer him, he let out a frustrated sigh,

"It was the same guy, wasn't it?" he said, "How did _he _get in here?..." Abby shook her head in confusion, instantly regretting the action as it set of fireworks behind her eyes.

"I don't know, I was just in here. The camera in my lab has been on the blink for a couple of days, but I didn't think anything of it. Then he was here, and I didn't have time to react, and... Gibbs, not again... Please, not again."

"No, he won't get away with it this time." Gibbs assured her, "not again. I'm going to finish it, one way or another." She leaned against him, allowing his warmth to soothe her.

"You need to go see Ducky, and then you're going to stay at my place. McGee will be watching over you." Abby shook her head,

"Gibbs, I can't! There's too much work to do... I need to process the evidence before tonight, I need to map the trajectory of the bullet..." her voice faded into nothingness at the stern look on Gibbs' face.

"Don't argue with me Abby, not this time."

Allowing her to lean on his stronger frame, they went to the elevator where Tony waited, SIG drawn.

"Abby, what..." He began, but Gibbs shook his head, his eyes spoke volumes. He would explain everything later. As the door shut on the two figures in the elevator, Tony wondered who would be stupid enough to harm Abby.

There was no doubt in his mind that there would be a body in Ducky's morgue before this was be over. The only question that remained was who would put it there.


	2. Chapter 2

Gibbs sat Abby gently on one of the tables in Autopsy, calling for Ducky. The older man turned around, hurrying over once he caught a glimpse of Abby's face.

"Good Lord Jethro, what happened?" he asked in alarm,

"_He_ happened." Ducky winced, the hand that was wiping the blood from Abby's face stuttering to a halt.

"I thought he was in prison?"

"Well, now he's been released." Gibbs paced agitatedly, "I can't believe he even got through security. How stupid can they be?"

"Some of them weren't here when it happened; it was almost eight years ago now. They don't know, you didn't tell anyone, the only one here was DiNozzo."

"That's because I didn't want him to, Ducky" Abby replied softly, "It was bad enough when people used to judge me by the way I looked; I didn't need their pity as well."

"Abby... You do remember what he tried to do, don't you... That bastard deserved more than the eight years he got. I should have put the bullet in his skull when the chance came."

The soft ring of the elevator was the only warning before the rest of the team rushed in to check on Abby; McGee in particular hurried forward first only to find Gibbs glaring protectively over Abby's shoulder. Not willing to press his luck, he ran his eyes over to make sure the injuries were only superficial. He almost felt like breathing a sigh of relief when there was nothing too serious.

Tony, having seen the injuries, looked straight at Gibbs, eyes demanding.

"Who this time?" he asked softly, "not..." Gibbs nodded.

"Eight years DiNozzo," That was all that needed to be said for Tony to start swearing vehemently as the timeline clicked in his head.

"Will someone please explain what is going on?" said Ziva, "What about eight years? Who is this person you are speaking about?"

"I'm talking, Officer David about the assistant Abby used to work with. Both of them worked in a navy facility on the outskirts of DC. He became obsessed with her, and eventually..."

Everyone's eyes shifted to Abby as the story continued, about the constant innuendo, the touching, the looks, and finally her rejection of him. Abby couldn't bear to see the pity she feared would be on their faces if she looked up. They listened as he recounted the kidnapping, and the events that took place.

"NCIS investigated the disappearance, finding her eventually in a house in Anacostia. When Tony and I checked the place out, we found the Bastard in the backyard, shovel in hand. Tony chased and arrested the bastard, I checked inside for Abby." When Gibbs didn't continue, Tony picked up the narrative,

"Then, Gibbs went with her to the hospital and a few days later she was released, but she didn't go back to work in the Lab, she was transferred to NCIS headquarters... Now he's out. And it looks like he's itching for payback."

"Does he have a name?" Ziva asked,

"...Devon Andrews." Gibbs replied, making Abby flinch visibly. Automatically, his arm tightened protectively around her shoulders.

"So, what are we going to do?" McGee asked Gibbs heatedly, "we can't let him get away with this."

"We're not... But first thing is first. Abby needs to go home. David, McGee, protection detail. She doesn't leave your sight."

Abby finally became fed up of being spoken about like she wasn't there. Steeling herself, she looked up. She was surprised to find not a trace of pity in their expressions, rather, anger.

"Gibbs. Firstly, I'm not leaving NCIS; I have too much work to do. Secondly, he took me by surprise this time. He won't be so lucky the next time. I need to do this for myself." Gibbs wasn't the least surprised, although he'd expected this sooner. The same couldn't be said for the rest of team Gibbs, each more than a little taken aback at her response.

"You will have the protection detail Abby; I'm not prepared to risk losing you." He replied firmly.

"I'll take McGee, nothing will happen," She said, "seriously Gibbs, I don't need both of them. Ziva is much better used tracking him down, you'll need all the help you can get," Gibbs' eyebrows rose,

"Poor choice of words there," Abby said with a slight grin.

"Fine... McGee, you lose sight of her for even a minute, and I swear your children's children will feel the pain I will inflict upon you."


	3. Chapter 3

Abby settled back into her lab, McGee close on her heels. He watched her carefully, still wary of Gibbs' all too genuine, threat.

"McGee, sit! I know you're down here on orders from Gibbs, but hovering... never helps," Abby grabbed his arm, and pulled him firmly to a stool in front of her computer, "if you want to help, find out a current address for him. Then go shoot... I mean, arrest him."

If McGee was entirely honest with himself, he was glad to have something to do. If the only thing he _could_ do was sit and think about the danger Abby was in, he was likely to drive both of them mad within the hour. Before he'd sat down though, a thought occurred to him.

"Abby!" he called, waiting until she stood next to him, "This Devon guy. Was he wearing gloves when he came in here?"

Abby frowned,

"No..." her eyes widened as she caught onto McGee's train of thought,

"It's possible, if he wasn't wearing any gloves. _We_ know it's him, but how would we prove it to a judge if we brought the guy in alive."

"Don't you mean when, McGee? When you bring the guy in..." Abby asked. McGee felt the most non incriminating answer to that was silence.

"Gear?" he asked,

They broke out the gear and raked the Lab to collect any evidence they could find. They needed to find him. Fast. Maybe this could provide an avenue.

They worked steadily, collecting a suspicious substance from near where Abby was attacked and several finger prints.

Abby analysed each print; removing any print matching an NCIS employee from the search. They were left with three unidentified prints, two of which were from the same individual. She ran them through AFIS, sipping at her Caf-Pow. As she turned to watch McGee finish up, her head span slightly, and she had to hold on to her desk for support.

"Woah," she muttered to herself, "slowly Abby." But within a minute, the dizziness had passed, and she let go of the counter. McGee looked up at her in concern,

"Abby?" he asked, "You okay?" Abby nodded,

"Just a little woozy, not to worry," she replied, taking another sip of her Caf-Pow, but McGee wasn't convinced.

"Maybe you should go home after all..." She chose to ignore him, placing the substance into her Mass Spectrometer.

"Major Mass Spec should have the results for us in no time." Looking at the pile of work she had to do, Abby was relieved to see nothing was too urgent. Loosing herself to the beat of the music, she worked until well after midnight, thinking of nothing but the science.

"Abby!" Abby jumped, not realising Gibbs was behind her until he was breathing down her neck,

"Gibbs!" she said, startled, "Tell me you have a refill?"

"Depends on what you've found," He replied, shaking the cup in front of her. For an instant Abby saw double, and leaned a little on her desk.

"...well, nothing yet. Major Mass Spec hasn't finished. I'm also still running the unknown prints through AFIS. One matched to Devon like we thought but the other ones are a little more elusive."

"Gotta have more than that Abs," Gibbs said with a grin, holding the cup over her bin. Involuntarily, her hands went to snatch it before it dropped.

A noise sounded in the background,

"Looks like Major Mass Spec found a match. Its common garden mulch," she said, a little disappointed, "it can be found in almost any house or nursery. Sorry Gibbs,"

He placed the Caf-Pow in front of her,

"Don't be. Andrew's last place of work was Allen's Nursery. We have the fingerprints in your lab too. It's enough to bring him in for interrogation."

As he went to step into the elevator, he heard a muffled thud, and

"Abby!"


	4. Chapter 4

Tony and Ziva raced back to their desks, well ahead of Gibbs. Tony automatically looked up last known addresses for him, while Ziva looked into aliases he might have. It was a rare sight, to see both of them so hard at work.

At the same moment they spoke,

"I found his address!" called Tony,

"He has no aliases. Nothing legal," Ziva said. The two agents left their desks to head to the lab but Gibbs met them at the elevator as it came up. The door opened to find a swearing Gibbs clenching and unclenching a fist while the other hand punched the button panel repeatedly. Tony and Ziva stepped in quickly, and the doors shut behind them.

"Speak!" he ordered,

"We found his address; but he has no aliases that we could find. We're also waiting on McGee for the tapes, he might have found something."

The elevator stopped and Gibbs pushed through before it was fully opened.

"Abby!" Gibbs skidded to a halt in front of her collapsed form, near a frantic McGee.

"Called 911?" he barked, McGee nodded curtly.

"Pulse?"

"Fairly strong, getting weaker by the minute." he replied, "Boss, she's been fine all day... a little stressed, but nothing that should have caused her to collapse. She ate something... and she's been drinking her Caf-Pow all day. "

McGee looked around frantically for the cup,

"What if she was poisoned?" he asked, "If he knew how much she loved the stuff, it would be the perfect way."

"Makes sense boss," Tony chimed in. Ziva went over to the desk in the centre of Abby's work area and picked up the Caf-Pow container from the bin.

"Ziva!" Gibbs snapped, "Gloves! We need more evidence; we need something to trace him with. We know nothing so far. You and Tony go to his address, find him and bring him in."

The two agents left quickly.

Gibbs and McGee waited impatiently for the ambulance to arrive. In the meantime, Gibbs called Ducky, asking him to come up to Abby's lab. When the EMTs finally arrived, all the two agents seemed to be able to do was get in the way.

"Sir, move back!" one of them barked impatiently as Gibbs looked over his shoulder.

"McGee, with me!" he said, he knew there was nothing more to do for Abby and as much as his gut kept telling him to go with her, he had to trust Ducky would go with her. His team had a job to do. As he walked out the door, he missed the look of reproach McGee sent him.

"Boss, maybe I should stay with her..." Gibbs turned back to face him, he quashed the urge to head slap his agent, knowing he felt exactly the same way.

"There's nothing more we can do for her Tim, if we stay here, we'll just be in the way."

* * *

Meanwhile, Tony and Ziva drove silently to the address they'd collected. Tony had handed the keys to Ziva without argument, signalling the depth of their worry for Abby.

"How does Abby manage to attract so many stalkers?" Tony asked in frustration,

"Much like you and the constant accusations of murder?" Ziva quipped, Tony just looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Sorry, not the right time... but it is true. This team seems a magnet for trouble."

Tony would have loved to disagree with her. But he couldn't, not without looking like a fool. The more he thought about it, the more he realised the truth of her statement. They reached the suspect's apartment.

"If he was planning a kidnap, this isn't the best place..." Tony remarked, wondering at the guy's plans for Abby. As they reached the 2nd storey, Tony reached into his jacket for his badge and Ziva drew her gun.

Tony knocked on the door,

"NCIS! Mr. Andrews, we'd like a word." Ziva called, when nobody answered, she picked the lock and softly opened the door. Tony pushed in front of her, gun pointed low,

"Clear!" He called, checking out each room as they moved down the corridor. As he moved out into the open living room, Ziva saw the gun butt flick out and it struck him across the back of his head, making him collapse. She stopped cold.

"Come out!" she called, "you will not be harmed."

She heard only a soft snort of laughter before two men moved forwards, guns pointed at her.

"Put your gun down, and kneel," one of them said, as he raked his eyes up and down her body, "I can't guarantee you won't be harmed." Ziva's eye's narrowed angrily, but she knelt and placed the gun in front of her. One of them moved forward to kick her gun away.

Before the man could react, Ziva flicked her wrist to withdraw the sheathed knife and stabbed him in the stomach. She dove, retrieving her gun and aiming at the man's head.

"Now," she said as she stood up, "you are going to drop your gun, turn around with your hands above your head. Or your friend will not be the only one in need of medical attention."

From the corner of her eye, she saw Tony stir from his collapsed position on the floor. In her split second of distraction, Devon shoved her out of the way and ran for the door, leaving her momentarily stunned.

Turning around, she fired a shot at his back as he raced into the corridor. But he had disappeared around a corner by the time she chased after him. Making the choice, she turned back to check on Tony.

"Did you get him?" he asked, leaning on the doorframe. She shook her head before ringing Gibbs; he was going to be furious.


End file.
